The ongoing concerns for driver safety in racing have not included a fundamental of life-sustaining, breathable air in the condition of fire or fumes. This is the guiding principal of the Breathable Air Pressurized Safety Helmet. Incorporating a pressure above that of atmospheric (positive pressure) that may be accomplished by the release of breathable air from a compressed air canister(s) for a time following a racing incident such as an impact or fire, the instant invention can expel potentially harmful contaminants (such as flames, heat, noxious fumes, chemicals, particulate matter, oxygen deficient air, for example) away from the head of the helmet occupant and prevent the intrusion of further contaminants. This increased pressure is key to this system and provides protection specifically when there is a possibility of toxic fumes or fire or other danger present before an individual can exit the environment. Additionally, safety personnel exposed to similar hazards could benefit from this available and supplemental air supply.
In several embodiments, this invention relates to helmet protection methods and systems designed to protect the wearer from not only physical impact but also from non-impact safety risks posed by noxious fumes, fire, lack of oxygen, and particulate matter and the like by creating a positive pressure inside the helmet while still permitting normal human respiration. The present invention is designed for application in a car, or other powered vehicle environment, but may also be applied in other environments such as perhaps air flight where dangerous conditions such as those mentioned above may arise or even in any environment that may pose the danger of the release of harmful chemicals, heat, flames, noxious odors or gases, or oxygen deficient air, and the like. The present invention may involve a helmet, a compressed air canister(s) such as a cartridge or a tank or other type of container, sensors that may trigger an release element that may initiate a flow of breathable air from the canister(s), and exfiltration components that may permit the increase of air pressure within the helmet such that safety endangering conditions (such as noxious fumes, heat buildup, particulate matter and the like) are prevented from entering inside the helmet but respiration by the human wearer is still possible.